Tag: Christmas

We’ve scoured the web to find eight of the best Christmas themed apps to ensure you and your family get into the Christmas spirit. Let us know if you download any!

A Charlie Brown Christmas ($3.79)

This interactive story book app is for all ages and is based on the original holiday classic. Play piano, paint and read, sing and decorate your own Christmas tree. It has the original narration and soundtrack. This app is a heart-warming addition to your Christmas.

A Royal Christmas ($1.99) Currently 60% off

Celebrate Christmas with three Disney Princesses. Cinderella, Tiana and Ariel each throw their own Christmas celebration. Cinderlla with help from the Fairy Godmother, Tiana hosts a party with an unexpected guest and Ariel a treasure hunt. This app will keep young ones thoroughly entertained.

Appy Christmas (Free)

Have a chat to Santa with this fun app! Not only can you talk to him but poke and stroke him while you watch him laugh and dance. Watch as Santa transforms into a reindeer. Included in the app is a countdown to Christmas.

Santa’s Christmas Village ($1.99)

Santa’s Christmas Village is a collection of 17 classic and original games all with a holiday theme. Games include Mahjong, Sudoku, Naughts and Crosses, Checkers and Solitaire. The app also includes 25 classic Christmas tunes.

Christmas Radio (free)

What better way to get into the Christmas spirit than with the Christmas Radio app. Featuring stations dedicated entirely to songs of the season. Your Christmas soundtrack is sorted!

Christmas (Free)

An all-in-one Christmas app featuring a countdown, wallpapers, puzzles, emoticons, ringtones and songs. If it’s Christmas related, you will find it in this app!

How the Grinch Stole Christmas! – Dr. Seuss ($1.99)

How the Grinch Stole Christmas the Dr. Seuss classic is an interactive book allowing you to record your voice so you can personalize your own story or have a narrator read it to you.

Yummy Christmas (Free)

Enjoying some baking over the holiday break with the Yummy Christmas App. Featuring a range of kid friendly recipes accompanied by cute images and fun sounds no one will be going hungry these holidays!

Did you see Apple’s Christmas commercial from last year? Entitled “Misunderstood” it shows a teenage boy seemingly uninterested is the activities going on around him as his family enjoys its Christmas. The teenager is thought to be more interest in his iPhone than spending time with family. What is revealed at the end of the 90-second spot is that he has been filming the whole day on his iPhone. The teenage shares the movie with his emotional family.

If you haven’t seen the ad you can watch it here:

The ad was well received. It even won an Emmy Award for “Best Commercial.” Entertainment Weekly called it a “Merry little cry,” and a “completely beautiful surprise.” However the feedback was not universally positive. Jennifer Rooney from Forbes wrote that it was “A sad commentary on culture and does Apple no favours.” She argued that what the commercial was really showing was that life is better through video. Gizmodo also claimed the commercial was “fundamentally antisocial.”

Then comes Apple’s 2014 commercial “The Song.” In a similar vein to 2013, the 2014 ad tugs at the heartstrings. It shows a girl who has found an old record made by her grandmother. The girl sets about rerecording the album as a duet, adding her voice to that of her grandmother’s. An iPad mini is then left for her grandmother with the recording as a Christmas gift.

You can watch the 2014 commercial here:

Apple wants to showcase how its products can be used to create thoughtful gifts and strengthen relationships. Despite the commercial just being released there are already critics of the 2014 commercial. Apple Insider claims it “fails to achieve an impact,” while the 2013 version “made you think and had more tension.” Cult of Mac while saying the ad is “certainly not bad” it doesn’t resonate “like last year’s storyline.”

Are Apple’s TV commercials a reflection of how technology has taken over our lives making us more interested in recording the moment than living the moment? Or is Apple’s message that technology allows us to connect and share in ways we never could before ring true? At Mac and PC Doctors we are obviously big technology fans, so we would go with the later view.